Guess where I went.....

Here's a little tidbit for ya.......I live very close to The Pioneer Woman's ranch. Ree Drummond and her family have a huge, and I mean huge, ranch about 30 minutes from my house. We live in the next town from them. I love Ree. I began reading her blog about two years ago and kept thinking to myself how amazingly familiar her landscape photos looked. All of the pictures of her ranch looked just like the farmland around the small town I live in and it was really starting to make me wonder. I finally figured out one day what her name was....Ree Drummond.....the Drummond family. Are you kidding me??? If you know anything about Oklahoma history, you know that the Drummond family owns the largest ranch in Oklahoma. I mean tens of thousands of acres of land. They are the original ranching dynasty. I think that's why I love that she makes fun of herself on her blog...she doesn't sound like a gazillionaire. But she is!

Her cooking is to die for....I would do anything to be able to cook like that.

Last weekend my Mom was feeling housebound because she'd had cataract surgery and had been hanging around the house for a week, so we decided to go on a little drive. We headed northwest and ended up in Pawhuska, a town full of beautiful old houses, some even old Indian mansions. We decided to stop at the Drummond House which is a National Historic Landmark. It is the house that Ree's husband's great-grandparents built in the early 1800's. We toured the house and showed the boys how people lived in the olden days. They thought it was really interesting and couldn't imagine that people lived in houses with no air-conditioning. Trust me when I say my boys would go crazy!

After the Drummond house tour, I told my Mom we were going out to the Drummond Ranch to take a picture. She laughed at me but thought it was a fun idea. I just stopped quickly and jumped out to get the pic. It turned out pretty good though, even though their house is a good 5 miles down the road from the entrance. I would love to meet Ree someday and visit the Lodge, wouldn't you???

Wedding

More pics from our wedding at Cross Timbers at Skiatook Lake. Easily, the most beautiful spot to get married in Oklahoma, hands down. I couldn't have asked for better people to work with - Laura, the restaurant Manager was so helpful and easygoing. I just loved her!

The wedding planning went so smoothly. Heck, I spent five long years thinking about getting married so when the time came, the planning was pretty much done. Jim told me that when he graduated with his Master's Degree on May 11 that we could start planning our wedding. Two months to the day - we were married. He didn't have to tell me twice!

I have to thank my good friends Jennifer and Nancy for taking a ton of photos for me. Their photos are awesome. Enjoy!

My Mom and my best friend's husband Bobby

Our flower girl/honorary ring bearer Allie, the best White Boxer in the world

Decorations - the text of our wedding program fans

Customized water bottles to help our guests deal with the 90-something degree heat

Guests getting ready for the wedding

Love and marriage......

After five years of wonderful times and great memories....Jim and I finally tied the knot on July 11, 2009. It was the most wonderful night of my life. Right as I started walking toward the ceremony site, it began to sprinkle. Just a slight sprinkle but a sprinkle none the less. I began to really panic inside and turned to the event coordinator and asked what we were going to do if it started to really rain. She said, "We're just gonna hurry up and get married."

The second I got to the corner where I turn to walk into the site, the raindrops stopped and the sun came out. It was a glorious moment.

The moment was only eclipsed by the fact that we were pronounced husband and wife at 8:11pm and when we turned around and walked down the aisle at 8:12pm a brilliant rainbow appeared. That rainbow was my Dad, who has been in Heaven watching over me for the last 4 years. It was a sign from him that he was happy for us. If you've ever heard the song, Holes In The Floor Of Heaven by Collin Raye, you'll understand. Look up the lyrics, it's definitely worth it.